Improvement in corn-husking machines



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFTGE.

YFRANCIS WIDERMAN, OF OATONSVILLE, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF-HIS RIGHT TOOHAS. RIDGELY GOODWIN, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN CORN-HUSKING MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 156,833, dated November10, 1874; application filed September 5, 1874.

To all whom et may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANcIs M. WIDER- MAN, of Catonsville, in the countyof Baltimore and in the State of Maryland, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Corn-Huskers; and do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings making a part of thisspeciiication, in which- Figure lis an elevation of one side of myimproved machine as arranged for use. Fig. 2 is a like view of theopposite side of the same, and Fig. 3 is a vertical centra-l section ofsaid machine upon a line passing from front to rear.

Letters of like name and kind refer to like parts in each of the gures.

The design of my invention is to enable corn to be easily and quicklyhusked by mechanical means; and to this end it consists, principally, inthe construction and operation of the stripping-rollers, substantiallyas and for the purpose hereinafter specified. It consists, further, inthe combination, Iwith the strippingrollers, of an elasticpressure-belt, which is arranged to move the ears of corn over saidrollers, substantially as and for the purpose hereinafter shown.

` In the annexed drawings, A and A represent two side rails arrangedhorizontally and in parallel lines, connected together by twocross-bars, B and B, and supported upon and by means of four posts orlegs, (l and C, the wholeforming the frame of my machine. Journaledwithin suitable bearings upon the upper sides of the rails A and A aretwo rollers, D

and D', which are covered with elastic material d, are placed with their'peripheries in contact, and are caused to revolve simultaneously, andin opposite directions, by means of two spur-gear wheels, E and E',which are attached to the projecting ends of said roller-journals, andengage with each other. Within suitable standards F and F', attached toand extending upward from the rails A and A, are journaled two rollers,Gr and G', around which passes an elastic endless belt, H. One end ofthe forward roller G is connected, through two gear-wheels, I and I,with the corresponding end of the forward roller D, so that as thelatter revolves said rollers G and Gr' are rotated and said belt Hcaused to pass around the s ame. The bearings of the forward belt-rollerG are arranged so that said roller can be raised above its normalposition, while two springs, K and K, which are attached at oneend eacht0 or upon the frame, and at their opposite ends bear upon theprojecting ends of the journals of said roller, hold the latter down toplace with a pressure that may be varied at will. Above the endless beltH is placed a table, L, for containing ears of corn to be operated upon,while a second inclined table or guide-board, M, extends from the frontend of l the machine rearward and downward to the nearest roller D.

A balance-wheel, N,`and a crank-handle, n, being attached to one endofthe roller D, the

Vmachine is ready for operation as follows:

Ears of corn arelaid upon the inclined table, parallel tothe-stripping-rollers, and moved downward until caught between the sameand the pressure-belt. the stripping-rollers move inward and downward,and, catching the husks of corn, remove the same from the ear and passthem downward upon an endless apron, O, which conveys said husks to therear end of the machine. The operation of the stripping-rollers causesthe ear of corn to revolve until entirely relieved from its husks, afterwhich said ear is moved rearward by the pressure-belt and falls into alaterally-inclined trough, P, from whence it passes into a suitablereceptacle that is placed beneath the end of said trough. In

ord er that the husks may be broken and caused v to engage with thestripping-rollers, the forward roller D is providedwith twoor moreradial spikes, d' and d', which project sufficiently to catch and tearsaid husks without coming into contact with the corn. When passingbetween said rollers, said spikes depress the elastic covering' of therear roller D', at the points of contact. In order thatthe husks -may beprevented from clogging the stripping-rollers, a cylindrical open drum,Q, is suitably journaled beneath and slightly in advance ofthe centersof said rollers, and is provided with radial spurs q and q, which Thecontiguous surfaces of the clearing-drum engages with and removes suchhusks as may adhere to the rollers, causing said husks to pass downwardupon the apron or carrier. Upon many of the ears of corn is left by thepicker a nnb, which frequently hasl such size and shape as to interi'erewith the operations of the machine. For the removal of such nub Ijournal a circular saw, T, upon the left side of the frame, near itsupper forward end, and connect the same through suitable gearing withthe shaft of the stripping-roller D. If, now, it becomes necessary toremove a nub, the end of the ear containing the same is passed beneaththe saw T. Said nub is separated and falls outside the machine, whilethe ear of corn passes downward to the stripping mechanism. If desired,the upper table may be removed and the ears of corn cut by the sawdirectly from the stalk, and said ears then operated upon by the huskingmechanism.

Having thus fully set forth the nature and merits of my invention, whatI claim as newY 1. The stripping-rollers D and D', having elasticsurfaces and provided with radial spurs d and df, which, during theirrevolution, depress the yielding periphery of the opposite roller at thepoint of their contact therewith, substantially as and for the purposespecied.

2. In combination with the stripping-rollers D and D', arranged tooperate as shown, the endless elastic pressurebelt H, placed above saidrollers and traveling with the same speed as that of their peripheries,substantially as and for the purpose shown.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this27th day of August, 1874.

FRANCIS M. WIDERMAN.

Witnesses:

GEO. S. PRINDLE,

JOHN W. PILLING.

